Stand-in captain Shahid Afridi's brilliant all-round performance carried Pakistan to an emphatic 147-run victory over New Zealand in the third one-day international yesterday, for a 2-1 lead in the five-match series.

Afridi hit a rampant 55 off 26 balls after Ahmed Shehzad smashed 113 off 120 as Pakistan raised its third highest ever limited-overs total of 364 for 7.

Afridi perfectly filled in the captain's role after regular skipper Misbah-ul-Haq was ruled out of the remainder of the series due to a hamstring injury he sustained, during the second ODI on Friday.